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Jen Birenbach

Waters Edge Ceramics

 

Member profile details

First Name
Jen
Last name
Birenbach
Business/Organization Name
Waters Edge Ceramics
City
Salem
 

Personal information

Instagram
@waters_edge_Ceramics
Directory listing text
Ceramic artist, small batch, hand-builder
 

Artist Info

Medium / Media
  • Clay
Artist Bio or Résumé
I found ceramics in college and I’ve been working in ceramics since those years. Over the past 25+ years it's been a part-time and full-time experience while I worked at the MFA, Boston, in corporate sales and marketing and volunteer ESOL teaching. When I was working full time, it was a side gig. At this time in my life I have a fully independent studio in my Salem home where I create my work. I tend to sell my pieces in 3 to 4 sales per year, always in-person. I post photos on my Instagram account.

Currently, my work is in Massachusetts, New England, New York, Texas, Alabama, New Mexico, California and a garden somewhere in England. (As far as I know, gardens are everywhere.)


Sales/Markets in Recent Years
-Beverly Main Streets, Winter Market 2024
-Lydia Pinkham Open Studios, Lynn, MA 2021-2024
-Annual Holiday Fair, Lynnfield, MA 2022-2024
-Annual Fall Fest, Newburyport Chamber of Commerce, 2023
-Pride Festival, Lynnfield, MA, 2022

Educational Workshops & courses, various topics
-Sunshine Cobb, Hand Building methods, MA
-The Handle Factory, MA
-Mass MOCA Artist Courses, online
-Harvard Ceramics. MA
-Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, ME
-Worcester Center for Crafts, MA
-Feet of Clay, MA
-Pullen Arts Center & Claymakers, NC
-Wooster Mountain Crafts, CT


Formal Education
-NC State University, ceramics coursework
-M.A., American Studies, Univ. of Wyoming
-Mass College of Art, Ceramics coursework, Boston, MA
-B.A., Fine Arts, Franklin Pierce University, NH
Artist Statement
I fully embrace this craft that can be both creative and functional. I hand-build everything I make, using coils, slabs and pinching. I decorate my work with an ancient Roman slip recipe, Terra Sigilatta, that I create myself, along with food safe glazes.

Discussing the work with those who handle and/or purchase them is vital to me. How does another person see it? How does it feel? What questions do they have? When I’m working I’m constantly thinking of the person who will come to own the piece in the end: where will it live, the kitchen or garden? How will it be used? How will it feel when handled? Ultimately, it’s a personal experience - whether it’s a mug, garden home, yarn bowl or something else. Each piece should be as personal to them as it is for me.

Nature's curves and impressions inform my work- I don’t hide the makers markings. Creating organically formed, hand-built pieces, using coil, pinch, and slab methods allows a close relationship with the materials.

The feeling of the clay when holding a bowl, mug or vase is key relationship to any pottery user, so I use texture, curves, and different finishes to add color and form, either with and without glass, to my pieces. For my garden houses, they’re individualized and meant for either the outdoors or indoors. My aim is to give pieces an approachable and organic feel, for sometimes precious things are not used, and my pieces are intended for use- with food, plants, or any reason.
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Salem Arts Association
159 Derby Street 
Salem, MA 01970  
Phone: 978-745-4850 
Email: info@SalemArts.org


Hours 
Weekends 12-6 pm


Parking: on street when available

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159 Derby Street, Salem MA 01970